The Flag of North Korea was adopted on September 8, 1948, as the national flag and ensign. The red star of Communism can be seen on this flag on a white disc. North Korea had originally adopted a "taegeukgi" following independence from Japan with a taoist yin-yang symbol similar to that in the South Korean flag but later revised its flag to more closely reflect that of the USSR. The flag was adopted in 1948, when North Korea became an independent Communist state. The traditional Korean flag was red, white, and blue. The country retained these colors (with more prominence given to the red) and added a red star on a white disk. The disk recalls the taegeuk found on the flag of South Korea, and represents the opposing principles of nature. The red stripe expresses revolutionary traditions; the red star is for Communism. The two blue stripes stand for sovereignty, peace and friendship. The white stripe symbolizes purity. A 600-lb (270 kg) North Korean national flag flies from the world's largest flagpole, which is located at Kijŏng-dong, on the North Korean side of the Military Demarcation Line within the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The flag-pole is 160m tall. There are few other known flags in use. There is a flag for the Korean People's Army, as well as its two subdivisions the Korean Peoples' Air Force and Korean Peoples' Navy, which follow a common design but with different colors (blue and white for the Navy and Air Force blue and white for the Air Force). There is also a flag of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea, modeled after similar communist party flags, and a flag for the Supreme Commander of the KPA used by Kim Jong-il, and has the Supreme Commander's Arms on a red field.
